An Echo in the Walls
by Rainbow Gumboots
Summary: There's something going on in the hidden rooms of Hogwarts and death quite literally seems to be looming around every corner.
1. Chapter 1

Accepted Characters!

**RavenClaws  
><strong>-Vyn Domer: 12  
>-Elwood Domer: 12<br>-Aubrey Farthington:17  
>-Roxie Granuel:15<p>

**Huffelpuffs  
><strong>No one! so I added my OC Simon in this house.

**Slytherin:  
><strong>-Dominique Adlanji: 13

**Gryffindor:**  
>Olizia Andrews: 13<br>Beth Simins: 13  
>Katerina Woods:16<br>Rowan Wentworth: 16  
>Aurora Farrows: 15<br>Sabrina D'angelo:16


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here's the long awaited first chapter! It's mainly OC introduction and stuff, no plot hint or anything yet :) But I hope you like it anways as I worked hard on it. Oh and It's NextGen! Oh and thak you PurplePrincess77 for pointing out that Louis Weasley is a boy... :S I've replaced Louis with Victoire (Though realistically in this story she would be around 21, please ignore this fact.)**

Platform 9 and 3/4's was filled with people, and not just your run-of-the-mill drill factory workers, no, these people were wizards.

A small girl elbowed her way through the crowd happily. Her dark chocolate brown hair was pinned up with bronze and silver pins, and she was wrapped up in a chunky knit scarf of the same colours. She was singing the Hogwarts anthem gently under her breathe as she neared a group of girls her age.

"Aurora!" She called out, shifting herself through the giggling fifth years until she was facing the taller Gryffindor girl.

"Hey Roxie." Aurora laughed, pulling her friend in for a hug. "Already for the school year I see." She eyed the brunette's current ensemble of Ravenclaw colours.

"Yup, I made these myself." Roxie said, pulling her feet from her shoes to show off her blue knit socks. "I have eleven other pairs," her smile faltered, "Guess I was a bit bored this summer." She finished off awkwardly, sticking her toes back into her boots. All her friends had promised that they'd have her over for the summer not one person had acutally owl'd her, she'd been stuck at the orphanage all break.

It wasn't that she hated the kids at the orphanage, she was rather fond of most of the little tykes that called the empty building their home, it was the older ones that she didn't get along with. Most of them avoided her like the plague during the summers and assumed she was at a school for the mentally ill during the rest of the year, not that she told them other wise. There had only ever been one other magical child to pass through the orphanage doors, a little girl 4 years or so younger than herself, but she was small and had that blonde curly hair that just made potential adoptees swoon, she'd been adopted within the month.

Aurora fiddled with her long golden red hair, suddenly remembering that she'd forgetten to invite the small Ravenclaw over. "My summer was pretty lame too," She lied, trying to make her friend feel a little better, "Mum took us 'round the country side as a trip, but she was there on work anyways." She finished with a shrug. Roxie nodded absently, her eyes glued to the back of a black haired boy.

Aurora nudged Roxie playfully, "Who ya lookin a-"

She was cut of quickly by a quiet voice barely over a whisper. "Don't move!" Both girls swivelled around to face the speaker. It was Rowan Wentworth, a Gryffindor girl a year older than the two. She was clutching a sketch book in her hands and a well used pencil in the other. "I told you not to move!" She groaned, scrabbling to draw the last bit of her picture down before the memories escaped her.

Roxie, blushing beat red, looked from Rowan back to the black haired boy, sighing in relief when she realized he'd disappeared into the crowd. The older girl took no notice of the younger Ravenclaw, she mumbled an apology for breaking into their conversation then quickly retreated from the crowd, anxious to seperate herself from the swarming teens. Her candy apple red hair bobbed as she climbed up the mountainous stairs onto the train.

Taking a seat in an empty compartment she pulled out a few books and settled in for the long train ride. She just had opened her book when the door swung open again and in jumped Fred Weasley and James Potter. She yet out a loud yelp of surprise, sending her books and sketches flying.

Fred grinned, "Did'cha miss me, Miss Annemarie?" He threw himself onto the bench opposite her. James howled with laughter as he sat down next to the girl, pushing a few books out of the way, her face as red as her hair.

"Don't call me that." She muttered, but she was still smiling nonetheless.

Rowan started tidying up her stuff to make room for the rambunctious boys when a younger girl with flaming red hair that challenged even Rowan's own copper locks poked her head past the door. "James, Mum gave me your robes by accident." She said, tossing a set of Gryffindor robes to her brother.

Fred cocked his head to the side, closely inspecting the robes. "Nope," He declared, "These are most definitely yours Lily, there's no way these couldn't be James's." He said in a mock serious tone as he pulled out a small robe set, complete with a plaid skirt.

The girl, Lily, snatched the clothes from him with a huff and marched from the compartment back to her friends.

"I can't stand him!" Lily ranted to the two girls she was dragging by the wrists. "He's bloody arrogant yet he still manages to do better than me in school." Her face was screwed into the angry grimmace that it usually took on when she was talking about either of her brothers.

"We could get back at him, both of them if you want." The brown haired girl spoke up, reffering to both James and Fred. Her green eye scanned the corridor to check they were alone while her blue eye flickered over to meet with the auburn haired girl beside her, making for a very eerie sight.

Both girls grinned simotaniously. "I completely agree, dear Elizabeth." The light copper haired girl giggled, falling into sync with Beth.

"We coud fill there bedding with dirt and worms, Hugo could get into their room for us." Beth planned deviously. The other girl crinkled her nose. "Oh, come on Lizzy, it's a good idea!"

Olizia shook her head again. "I was thinking more along the lines of veritaserum, or maybe hiding a Demon Box in their trunks." Lizzy laughed while Beth gave her a shocked look. "Hey, they're both good ideas!" She raised her hands in defense.

"Ya but Fred would recognize the Demon Box, his dad sells them for Merlins sake!" The two continued down the corridor, arguing back and forth.

"Wait up for me!" Lily called, bumping into someone as she ran to keep up with the two Gryffindor girls.

"Take me to dinner first!" The younger boy who'd been shoved called after the female Potter. The taller blonde infront of him roller her eyes behind her pair of thick frame glasses.

"You're so stupid sometimes." She grumbled.

"She wants me." The scrawny boy grinned.

"No girl wants you." She stated dryly. "You're basically the last chip in the bag, the one thats been crumpled and smashed into so many bits that no one's going to bother." She kept a straight face for atleast thirty secounds before bursting out in laughter. She nudged the blonde curly haired boy playfully. "Ah Woody, you know I was only joking." She said a little more sympathetically to her brother after he looked away frowning.

He sniffled loudly and rubbed his eyes, making them turn a ghastly pink shade. Suddenly he lit up, pushed past his sister, and ran down the train corridor. "Tricked you Vyn!" He shouted loudly, Vyn raced down the train after her twin.

They ended up bursting into one of the compartments on the far end of the train, both kids panting for breathe. Vyn looked up over her brothers head and noticed a small girl watching the two off them closely, the way and cat watches a mouse.

"Errm, do you mind if we sit here?" Vyn asked, running a hand through her thin cropped blonde hair.

But Woody was already tugging his sister back to the door. "She's a bloody Slytherin." He hushed under his breathe. The girl raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow, a lock of long black hair falling over her face.

"So," Vyn hissed back at her brother, "We're supposed to be making friends, not enemies." She tried pointing out to her brother.

He crinkled his nose and inhaled quickly, a sure sign he was going to rant on something Vyn didn't care about. "Study shows that every single dark wizard to walk the earth came from Slytherin, Voldemort himself was from the snake pit," Neither kid flinched at the Dark Lords name, "Chances are that she's going to be a dark witch. She could be plotting our demise this instant!" He rambled off, quickly growing paranoid of the petite pale skinned girl. "And besides," He spoke loud enough for the girl to hear him, "Eagles eat Snakes for dinner."

The girls green tinged blue eyes moved from the bickering siblings to her bag, she flipped the bag open and pulled out a giant snake and coiled it around her neck and arms. She glanced back over to the Ravenclaw twins and gave a slight cough.

Elwood swung around at the slight noise. His eyes bulged and he took a step back. "I don't think an eagle could eat that snake though." he stuttered, a horrified expression plastered to his face. Vyns' mouth opened and closed like a fish's. The sitting girl smiled serenely, cocking her head to the side.

Suddenly the door flew open and in marched Aubrey Farthington, the Head Girl. She huffed loudly, placing her hands on her hips. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ballerina bun. She surveyed the scene suspiciously. "Thought I heard arguing." She announced, her gaze resting on her two fellow Ravenclaws. "You two," She said, steering the twins out of the room, "Need to go get your robes on." She finished, giving them light nudges out to the corridor.

As they three of them exited Aubrey turned around, her eyes narrowed. "And Dominique," She said, pointing a finger to the poised girl sitting innocently on the bench, "Make sure you keep that thing leashed or something." She motioned with her hands to the oil black snake coiled around the girl.

Aubrey bustled out of the room. Her lithe legs propelling herself down the train hall in frustration. She spotted Victoire Weasley and was already venting by the time she reached her. "A snake! They let the bloody Slytherins keep snakes!" She tapped a heeled foot impatiently. "It's unorthodox! Next thing you know the Gryffindors will be bringing lions with them! she bubbled anxiously.

Victoire nodded her head absently as Bree rambled on. She'd wanted to be the Head Girl so badly, she'd worked so hard. She'd been crushed after hearing that Bree had been given the spot. So if she had the nerve to be worried then she was talking to the wrong girl. "You're doing great." She gritted through clenched teeth. Bree stopped talking and gawked at her blonde friend.

"Are you all right?" Bree asked curiously concerned for her friends odd behaviour.

"Ya, fine. I'm just tired." Victoire flipped a lock of strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder snobbishly. "You know, I think Sabrina was looking for you." She added after, hoping that Miss Perfect would take the hint and leave.

Bree looked slightly hurt as she walked away in search of the younger Gryffindor girl. Wandering down the train she finally spotted her. Sabrina's chocolate coloured skin set of her naturally midnight black wavy hair. When she spotted Bree she turned and flashed her an award winning smile, though her eyes were less than joyous.

Bree stood on tip-toes to see who she was talking to, her heart soared and dived at the same time. There in an animated chat with Sabrina was Simon, a tall Huffelpuff who just happened to be Head Boy. Bree walked briskly towards the two of them, lightly bumping Sabrina to the side.

"Hey guys!" She chirped cheerfully.

Simon glanced at the small Ravenclaw and then back to the equally petite Gryffindor girl. "Hey Bree." He nodded his head to the girl. "Playing quiditch again this year?" He asked.

Bree nodded, "Definetly! Wouldn't miss my last year of being a seeker!" She laughed.

"what about you Sabrina? Thinking about playing quiditch?" The Gryffindor girl shook her head.

"Love the game, but I love watching better than being the one to get hit with the bludgers." She laughed.

Bree was about to add something more when Simon cut her off, "I'm going to go check on the first years, make sure there ready and in uniform. You should make a few rounds aswell." He said pointing to Bree. Simon ran a hand threw his dark chocolate hair and gave his Head Boy badge one last quick shine before heading off down the train.

**Okay there the first chapter, If your OC wasn't in it then it means I have something planned, or that they'll just be there later :) Hope you liked it :D REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter, I'm so sorry for how slow I am, I'm slow usually, but my Grandpa was in the Hospital for quite a while the past month and past away in the last week so I was extra slow. I know it's a bit of an excuse but I was preoccupied and was having difficulty writing. But everyone, let's thank G-L-I-M-M-E-R-ESSENCE for motivating me to get back up! Now I'm back on track on my averagely slow pace! :) Not a whole lot happens, but it is an important kick off at the end. :D Hope you enjoy! **

Aubrey weaved through the crowd of first years, redirecting them towards the boats that would carry them for their first time to Hogwarts, she beamed down at them feeling very much like a mother hen. Curiously she looked at the faces of the astonished youngsters, wondering how many of them would end up being Ravenclaws.

She felt a light tug on her robes and glanced down to see a small blonde with tears streaming down his cheeks. He bubbled incoherently, Bree had to calm him down before she could understand a word he was saying.

"I-I-I lost my bags, a-and my owl. I b-brought them onto the t-t-train, I swear!" He stuttered out, snot dribbling from his nose. Bree smiled down at him, crouching down slightly to be at his eye level.

"It's okay, everything you brought onto the train will be waiting for you in your dormitory. You just need to be sorted and then you can head straight there." She beamed, taking the boy under her wing and leading him to one of the little row boats on the shore. She helped him into one with three other nervous yet friendly looking kids and watched them set off in wonder as the boat started to propel itself across the glass smooth lake before she turned to go find a carriage for herself.

Trying her best to gracefully lift herself into one of the tall carriages was a difficult task, especially whilst wearing a skirt. But after several moments of strategic planning she was able to set herself down in one fluid movement.

She was shortly followed by Molly Weasley, a Gryffindor girl in her year. She smiled sweetly at the dimpled girl before wondering if there ever was a Weasley that hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor, or maybe one without the classified colour hair of 'Weasley Red'. She contemplated this for several minutes before recalling that Victoire had been a blonde.

The two chatted the whole ride, filling any awkward pauses with by-the-book compliments until the seemingly self drawn carriage slowly groaned to a halt. They bade their farewells and made light promises to hang out soon. Bree turned away and went to help move the students to the great hall.

She spotted two suspicious looking Gryffindor girls heading the opposite direction and quickly ran after them, hooking them by their shirt collars. The two girls grinned sheepishly when Bree raised her eyebrows in question. "Great hall. March!" She instructed, pointing them towards the flow of students.

Olizia made a face behind the Head Girls back before making her way to the Great Hall in defeat, Elizabeth following in suit. "Who's she to boss us around." The copper haired girl complained. "We're third years! Which is basically forth year, which makes us pretty much the same level as sixth years, and no seventh year would boss a sixth year around." She pointed out in her on logical way.

Beth nodded in approval. Their plans for a quick first day back pranking had been ruined and now they were stuck watching wild eye'd first years get sorted. Not that this was horrible, they always took joy in making the little tykes laugh, or searching for a mischevious kid to take under their wing.

Olizia scooted over so a tiny brunette could squeeze onto the bench beside them. The little girl smiled at them nervously, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Beth caught Olizia's eye's and shook her head lightly, both girls got up from their seats in sync, giving the girl a last sympathetic smile before moving on the introduce themselves to the next Gryffindor.

As the line of first years dwindled down, the only person who still truly seemed interested was Roxie. She cheered loudly for each kid, and even louder if they happened to become a Ravenclaw. Many of the first years avoided her cautiously, nervous that she would tackle them down to pin them with the numerous Ravenclaw badges she'd aquired, while a few spirited ones made sure to get a spot as close to her as they could.

"She really is oblivious, isn't she?" Roxie swung around wide eye'd. Aurora smiled slyly beside Rose Weasley, her fellow Gryffindor.

"What?" Roxie chirped innocently.

Rose quirked her eyebrow, "What, you mean you haven't noticed that my cousin's been drilling holes into the back of your head for the past ten minutes?" Roxie's face burnt red and she glanced around the two girls to see Albus burrying his head frantically into his books, both Fred and James laughing beside him.

"I doubt he was looking at me." She whispered, hoping the two girls would leave, the first years were listening intently.

"Oh, I know Albus, he definetly would be into you." Rose waggled her eyebrows, causing the small Ravenclaw to just about crawl under the table for escape.

Aurora watched her friend with a mix of sympathy and humour. "Come on, let's go talk with him." She laughed lightly, her bright blue eye's snapping to were the boy in question was sitting. She grabbed Roxie's hand and all but dragged her over to the table.

By the time Roxie was upright and breathing steadily, both her and Albus's faces resembled quite closely ripe tomatoes. Albus was about to say something when Rose spoke up.

"See Albus, I told you she likes yo-" Aurora quickly tried but failed to slam her hands over the Weasley girl's mouth, but it was too late, Roxie had given a shocked squeal and fled the dining hall. Leaving a puzzled Rose, flustered Albus, and a frusterated Aurora, who was currently glaring daggers at Rose who mouthed an apology. Aurora sighed, Rose wasn't as good at the sensitive stuff, or atleast couldn't tell when to keep her mouth shut.

Shooting a final glance at Rose, Aurora turned to chase after the brunette, plowing right through two small kids, calling a quick apology over her shoulder.

The two blondes frowned grudgingly. "Why does this keep happening!" Woody wondered allowed, his gaze lingering on the retreating form of the fifth year girl.

Vyn shrugged, she hadn't been moved by the bump. "That's what you get for being short." She laughed. He stuck his tongue out at her as they sat down to the other Ravenclaw twins, Lysander and Lorcan Lovegood. Lorcan gazed at the two through his giant coloured glasses, spetrospecs he called them, and Vyn stiffled a giggle when Lysander greeted them by shaking their forarms. The two pairs of siblings couldn't be any more opposites of each other.

"It's just not possible that a Crumpled Horned Snorcack could live in those temperatures." An argument on the Lovegood's creative beliefs had already sprung up and the Domer's, as usual, refused to budge. "You said they're cold blooded, which doesn't make sense anyways so-"

Vyn's calculated theory was cut off by Lysander. "No I said they're both warm _and _cold blooded." He said as if was the most obvious thing. Woody gave him a confused look.

"I don't get you." Vyn declared thoughtfully, peering at the fair haired boy through rimmed glasses.

Lysander grinned, "The first step to getting things, is to not get them." His voice sounded far away, an odd trait that he and his brother shared. Woody gave him yet another confused glance while Vyn blushed, she had no idea what he meant either, but she'd decided it was a compliment or something of the rather directed at her.

Before anything else could happen Lorcans voice was added to the mix. "You're being watched." His ominous voice gave Vyn chills, yet it was Woody he was talking to. Woody's spine stiffened and he turned his head ever so slightly to peer out from the corner of his eye.

A set of blue eye's watched the friends through slits. Half the girls face looked raw and burnt. "It's the Slytherin from the train!" Vyn hissed frantically.

Dominique's gaze didn't waver when Lorcan lifted his spectrospecs to blatantly stare at her. Her lips curled into a sly smirk. Quickly the four Ravenclaws bundled up the last scraps of food on their plates and hurried for the door. Dominique stood from her seat and followed them slowly like a shadow to the sun.

She found their panic captivating. Was it odd? If so she took no notice. Pie, her black as tar Bull Snake, chased along side her heels as they made there way through the maze of corridors, following the vanishing clicks of the Ravenclaw shoes.

Dominque rounded the corner quickly and came to an abrupt halt as she nearly ran smack into brick wall. She pursed her lips, she'd never seen this wall before, not that all the walls looked that different. She dragged her finger across the hard stone, her nails screamed against the rough surface. Suddenly her finger caught on one of the bricks and it started to morph.

Slowly the wall of bricks gave way to a small wooden door, one that Dominique would have to get on her hands and knees just to fit through. Curiously, she bent to clutch the old worn iron handle. She gave it a hard shove and it cracked open a foot, a puff of dust blowing into her face.

She went to push it again when she heard a voice. "Sabrina my loooovee, come back!" Dominque drew her breathe sharply, tugging the small door closed, it vanished into the stone as her fingers lifted from the wall. She glared angrily down the hall she'd come from. A group of teens danced past the hall, not even sparing a glance down the mysterious corridor.

A black haired girl waltzed in the front of the group, while two boys chased after her, bumping each other into the walls. A small girl trailed behind them awkwardly, tugging on her long red hair. As she passed the hall her head turned and landed on Dominique. Their eye's caught for a moment, Dominique's harsh vibrant eye's stood their postition, while the Red head's leaf green eye's cast down to the floor quickly as she shuffled after the others.

Rowan glanced up to Sabrina, who was now being carried piggy back style by James. Sabrina laughed as he pretended to drop her. "Don't you dare!" She yelped, grin plastered to her oval face.

"Why? What would you do?" James asked mockingly.

"Well I'd-" She was cut off as James swung her forward. She let out a scream as the floor quickly grew closer, only to be caught by Fred. They boys howled once again as they started to swing her by her arms and legs.

Rowan sighed and turned away from the group, making her way back the way they'd come. She threw a last glance over her shoulder to see if they'd even noticed she'd left. They hadn't.

Tucking a loose copper strand behind her ear, she contemplated about fetching her sketch book, maybe get a few idea's drafted. You could barely hear the click of her shoes as she made her way towards the Gryffindor dorms.

She was just about to step off the last stair step when the whole stairwell started to groan. Rowan barely had time to throw herself at the railing before the stairs swung themselves around, retaching themselves with a muted sigh. Hesitantly she took a feeble step off the steps. she had no idea where she was, yet was to nervous to stay on the moving stairs a minute longer than necessary.

She all but ran down the first hallway she came to, hoping it would lead her somewhere familiar, or atleast to another student. By the time the hall was coming to an end she was all out sprinting around the corner, she didn't even notice the lone ghost floating around the corner. She ran straight through it and halted to a stop. Her stomach squirmed, it was never pleasant to go through the chilled essence of the dead.

The hollow form turned aswell to stare at the lost Gryffindor in shock. Her body now a faded blue wavered eerily in the light, and Rowan could just make out the Gryffindor emblem sewn on to her ragged robes.

"I'm Sorry!" Rowan squeaked, still feeling rather nauseous. The ghost blinked, blue eye's darted around, searching to see if anyone else was about. Rowan shuffled her feet nervously, afraid to steal another glance at the Hogwarts apparation. She'd seen ghosts before. Hogwarts was filled with them, Nearly-Headless Nick was the Gryffindor Ghost after all. But she'd never seen a student before, Moaning Myrtle had long ago disappeared and she was but a myth now, and this girl looked about the same age as Rowan.

After a few moments nervous silence the ghost finally spoke, "It's ok," Her voice was rough and muted at first, like she hadn't talked in years. "It happens a lot I suppose, what with ghosts running amuck down in the school." Rowan nodded, staring at the ghost's face, the girl had a sharp scar digging into her cheak, and her arms looked bruised and beaten.

With that, the ghost turned gracefully, her torn School Robes dragged across the floor.

For no reason that Rowan could explain she called out after the ghost, "What's your name?" The girl froze.

"Katarina Woods." She replied without turning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the lack of update :S MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS! Sorry if near the end there are spelling/grammer problems as I woke up early to finish this for you guys (And as it was New Years eve yesterday I'm still pretty tired :P) **

Rowan sat beneath a light in the library, burried beneath a hefty pile of yearbooks from the past. It'd seemed that Hogwarts never had a beginning, the books dated farther back than she cared to imagine. She picked another up, it had faded gold lettering and the cover was slightly torn. She couldn't remember if she'd already check through it or not.

"Miss Annemarie, what are you doing all alone in a library?" Rowan swivelled around on her chair to face James.

"I could ask you the same thing." She stated, feeling uncharacteristically bold.

James laughed, pushing his dark hair up out of his eye's. "Is it a crime to be in the library?"

"It is if you're a Potter." Rowan mumbled under her breath.

"I was getting some books for my potions essay." He continued, not hearing her comment. "And you're doing what?" He asked again, noticing the blanket of yearbooks surrounding her.

"Searching." She muttered, flipping through the pages of the closest book.

"For what?" he asked, not surprised about his quiet friends odd antics.

"For a Katerina Woods, Gryffindor." She said, pushing a few of the books into his hands.

"Whoah, who said I was here to help?"

Rowan bit her lip, of course he didn't want to help her, they weren't friends, well atleast not good ones.

She scrambled to her feet, accidently knocking a few books from the table. "Well, I have to go anyways." Her voice was barely a whisper as she pushed past the boy and out towards the hall. "Stupid Gryffindors." She whispered to herself. Sometimes she wondered why she wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw, or even Hufflepuff for Merlins sake.

"I was only joking!" James called after her, slightly bemused, but Rowan was already out of hearing distance.

"Girls.." He laughed under his breath.

"What about us?" James glanced over to acknowledge Sabrina who'd walked up beside him.

"You're all crazy, crazy and dillusional." James stated in mock seriousness.

Sabrina tilted her head in thought, "Sounds about right." She laughed.

"Why is everyone in the library?" James suddenly asked, already making his way to the nearest exit.

Sabrina wondered at this. "I truly don't know. I was here to help Rowan, thought it would be a nice surpise, she was sounding pretty crazed yesterday about some girl called Katarina Woods. Do you know who that is?"

"No idea."

"Mhmm, me neither. But if this girls got a problem with our Rowan than she's got a problem with me." Sabrina declared, pulling her dark hair into a ponytail as the two marched from the stuffy book filled room.

"Speaking of problems, you havn't seen Lily around have you? I swear she's out to get me, her two little friends have been eyeing me like dead meat since we got off the train." James started to sound worried. "I don't want a repeat of last year."

"Oh come on, that was funny." Sabrina chuckled, bumping him with her hip.

"How is turning all my boxers into raccoons funny!" James choked out. "I still have scars!" He cried, pulling up his robe sleeve.

"Hey don't go off on me, I didn't give them the idea!" She held her hands up in innocence.

Suddenly James grabbed her arm and pulled her back around the corner. "Oh god they're right there!" His voice wavered. James had to be one of the best looking in his year and was absolutely the most attractive, as reassured by his mother, yet something about the way those three third years carried themselves when they were together gave him chills that only another sibling of the girls would understand.

"For Merlin's sake James, they're 13! You shouldn't be scared! You're the prankster of this school, not them!" She pulled her wrist free and marched out and around the corner, smiling at the girls as she passed them. The three smiled sweetly back at her, double checking to see if Lily's 'lovely' brother was with her.

But when James didn't show up around the corner after his friend the girls gave up the act and waved good-bye to Sabrina, it wasn't as fun to mess with the older girl cause she'd always get them back.

Lily sighed, as she caught James running after Sabrina form the corner of her eye. Sometimes he could be so embarrassing, she thought quickening her step to catch up to Beth and Olizia. Beth turned around to walk backwards, facing Lily.

"I was thinking of heading down to see Vanessa today." Beth started casually. Both Lily and Olizia gave her a funny look.

"But why? She's so... so..." Olizia stopped, searching for the right word.

"Different." Lily offered, jumping in before her friend said something stupid. Beth frowned at this, her miss-coloured eyes narrowing at the two red heads. It was her job, and her job alone to bag on her sister.

"Well she is." Olizia muttered under her breath.

"Well, I'm going now! I don't care if you guys don't want to come with me." Beth had already turned down the next hall towards the Huffelpuff common room. She was hustling so fast down the stairs that she barely heard her name being called till she was at the Huffelpuff passageway.

"Beth! Hold up!" The two Gryffindors sprinted to grab hold off their fuming friend.

"Why are you so worked up?" Olizia asked curiously, looking Beth straight in the eyes.

"It's nothing, I just wanted her help with Charms. I've been falling behind and Mum get me at the break if I don't pick them back." She replied so earnestly and with a drop of embarrasment. Most would have dropped it at that, 99 percent of of the school would have believed it too. But Lily and Olizia knew better than that. They noticed the way her pinky and thumb on her right hand pressed together as she talked, they could catch the slight lisp to her speech, as if her mouth was lined with cotton. But most of all they knew Beth, and there was no way in all of Britian that she needed help in Charms, the girl could Bloody well teach the class.

Olizia gently grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back round to face eachother again. She raised her eyebrow and tilted her chin, Beth's lip quivered for a secound then she exploded into a fit of tears on the spot.

The three girls were flopped down againts the wall of the corridor, Beth's face bright red and nose running like a faucet, Lily cooing and rubbing Beth's brown hair smooth, and Olizia just sitting silently holding the sobbing girls hand, waiting patiently for Beth to say whatever it is she means to say.

The Huffelpuff door opened and the Head Boy, Simon, strode out. He turned as if to say something to the group of girls, but changed his mind when Olizia gave him a look that clearly said, 'I will hex you to pieces if you open your mouth.'

With a sigh Simon quickly walked from the hall shaking his head slowly. He thought for several minutes on what or where to go, patrolling the halls was a tedious chore but it was really the only thing do. He made his way throughout the castle, stopping to check on the other prefects whenever he saw them. After several mintues he passed by the Trophy Room, he stopped in surprise. Aubrey was standing in the middle of the room, back turned to him.

Simon entered to room, and walked up beside her quietly. She turned her head and he could see she was smiling. "Hey." was all he said.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked dreamily. Simon turned to her, completely puzzled. He tried to see what she was looking at, all he saw where a bunch of trophies and plaques that truly needed polishing.

Finally his eyes landed on a plaque that was labelled 'Head Boy' and 'Head Girl'. His smile twisted into a grin. This was what had Aubrey in such a tizzy?

"My Dad was Head Boy, he's an Auror now, and so was my Gran and she went and became a healer, And both of my Gran's parents where Heads too. For all I know, my family is a chain of Head Girls and Boys, and I made the chain an extra link.

The little blonde seventh year reached up towards the plaque and tried to shine it with her sleeve, she only got the very bottom part. Blushing she stepped back quickly, stepping on Simon's foot. With a laugh Simon swiftly pulled out his wand. "Scourgify." he said, still smiling, and the plaque bubbled with suds for several secounds before revealing such shine that it could serve as a mirror.

Aubrey sucked in a breath of air quickly before turning around to the dark haired Head Boy before her. "Thank you." She whispered taking a step closer.

"No problem, now you can check for more relatives." He replied, same goofy grin on his face.

"But I _really _appreciate this." She said again stressing her words softly, Simon blinked. Boy was he thick she thought, taking another step closer, they were near touching now and Bree was just about to grab hold of his hand when there was a large shatter in the hall.

Simon twisted around, pulling his hand out of reach. "What was that?" He sounded surprised. Bree frowned. "I'll go check it out." He bounded off out off the room leaving Bree.

It was easy enough to spot the source of the noise. A bunch of students were huddled wide eye'd around a knocked over suit of armor. Simon smiled reasuringly to the younger kids as he set the suit back up with his wand.

"It was an accident!" One of them piped up. Simon glanced down at the little blonde boy, then realized there was an identicle match beside him. Realization hit him like bricks. These were the Scamander twins. He didn't have anything against them, but wierd things tend to happen to people when they're around.

"No harm no foul." Simon laughed awkwardly, ruffling the boys hair as he passed. Lorcan gave the Head Boy an odd look as he left, lifting up his spectraspecs to gawk at him.

"What an odd kid." Lorcan muttered to his friends, pushing his colourful glasses back over his eyes. Woody nodded his head in agreement and Vyn tried to keep from bursting into a laughing fit while Lysander struggled to fix his hair from looking like a Pygmy Puff.

They slowly moved their way to the Ravenclaw Common room. Lysander quickly answered the riddle and held to door open for Vyn to pass, then Lorcan. Woody stayed outside the passage, shifting from foot to foot.

Lysander gave him a look. "What are you waiting for? Nargles'll get you if you stay out there." He pointed out, still holding the passage open wide.

"Umm... I was actually going to go hang with Hugo and Roxanne before curfew." Woody muttered, eye's pointed downwards. He felt bad for leaving his friends but it's not like he was supposed to _only_ be friends with them.

Lysander frowned, "Oh." was all he said before slipping into the Ravenclaw room himself, giving Woody a small last wave before the door pulled shut.

He neared his friends and sat down next to Vyn. She looked at him questioningly, wondering where Woody was.

"He's with the Gryffindors." He shrugged, catching the question in her eyes.

"Oh." Vyn recoiled back in shock.

Lysander smiled, "That's what I said too." The three sat in silence for several minutes, each wondering what Woody was doing.

"This is weird." Lorcan finally said what everyone was thinking. Vyn nodded again, feeling a little lost without her other half. "I think we just need someone to make us four again instead of three, yeah, that should fix this up quite nicely." Lorcan stood up abruptly, head swivelling around to see who else was in the common room.

Both Vyn and Lysander tried to pull him back down to he floor but he pushed them off and hopped over to an older girl with a long dark brown pony tail on top of her head. She looked up, a happy smile glued to her face. She had an ocean blue blouse on with her Ravenclaw robes over top.

Lorcan grabbed her hand from her lap and shook it. "Hello there, I'm Lorcan Scamander. Me and my friends over there were wanting to know if you'd like to sit with us." Vyn watched as Lorcan pointed over to her and Lysander, the girl craned her neck to look and them. Vyn slammed a hand over her face, her face burning blotchy red in embarassment.

Surpisingly enough when Lorcan sat back down, the girl had come with him. She waved quickly at them before introducing herself. "I'm Roxie, I'm in my fifth year though so I'm not sure if you know me or not-" She looked as if she could go on forever but stopped short when she noticed Vyn staring at her.

Vyn squinted. If you looked closely you could see that Roxie had put some kind of blue glitter in her hair. Lysander nudged her and she quickly looked away. Roxie quickly moved on from the awkward lookover and attempted to start up another conversation with the little Ravenclaw hatchlings.

"You're Mum's Luna isn't she? She was a Ravenclaw." Both the twins nodded.

"Wit beyond measure is a mans greatest treasure." Lysander recited with a grin. "Mum takes us exploring during the breaks, to help her discover new creatures." Lorcan was already trying to put his spectraspecs over the girls eyes as the Scamanders began there favourite topic.

"There are Nargles and Heliopaths, and little creatures called Gulping Plimpies that make excellent soup." Lorcan exclaimed.

"Oh and Wrackspurts, they're the worst! That's what the specs are for." Lysander said trying to turn Roxie's head so she could see all the Wrackspurts fuzzing up the room. "And we're still on the hunt for the Crumple Horned Snorkack." Vyn shook her head with a giggle as the older girl took in the boys absurd stories, looking around the room in amazement. She teetered to her feet and Vyn threw her arms out to steady her.

"I've got to show Aurora!" Her voice was filled with astonishment and Vyn could just feel the two boys ego fill up the room.

Roxie swung open the door and skipped out into the hall, making sure to look at everyone that passed to see how many Wrackspurts they had. She could just hear the wispy voice of Lorcan chirp, "Hey, she still has my Spectraspecs!"

She knocked on the Gryffindor passageway for atleast six minutes before someone opened it, giving her a rather annoyed look. Jumping past the boy, she quickly spotted the porcelain skinned girl sitting on the carpet near the fire. Roxie tackled Aurora to the ground with a laugh.

Aurora was laughing till she saw her friend, then she burst into full out hysterics.

"What?" Roxie asked, slightly hurt.

Aurora pulled her golden hair from her face and snorted. "Your glasses, where'd you get those from?" She asked trying to compose herself, yet failing horribly.

Roxie grinned again. "The Scamanders gave them to me. Aren't they cool!" Before the Gryffindor girl to reply that no, the colourful glittery glasses were not very attractive looking, Roxie was already pulling them off and shoving them onto her.

"Look! Can't you see them? The Wrackspurts!" Roxie was jumping in her seat like a six year old on Christmas day. Aurora sighed.

"Roxie, you can't just believe whatever the Scamanders tell you. Everyone knows there a bit... well you know." She searched for words, wiggling her fingers above her head.

Roxie nodded her head slowly, taking back the spectraspecs. "But you can see them." She whispered, trying to discreetly look through the glasses again.

"Roxie, give the glasses back to them when you get back tonight." Aurora said, trying to look out for her friend who was attempting to throw away the sane reputation that she'd built up. The other kids would eat her alive if they knew Roxie believed in the Scamander's wacky creatures.

"I think I'll just head back now." Roxie replied flatly.

Aurora grabbed her wrist. "I'm sorry, I-I just get worried about you." Aurora finished hoping that she didn't sound as lame as she thought she did. Roxie nodded again, and stumbled back towards the portrait in defeat. Jumping out of the passage way she accidently knocked into someone.

"Sorry." She said automatically, pushing past them. The person turned around and grabbed her wrist. "I said I was sorry!" Roxie repeated, frustration evident in her voice. She spun around only to be face to face with Albus, his sharp green eye's curiously worried. Roxie sighed, this just wasn't her day.

"Look, I've got to go." Roxie muttered, trying to pull free.

"Are you okay?" Albus murmered, directing his gaze to the floor.

"Yeah." Roxie gave her arm another tug.

"Are you mad with me? I didn't anything to do with what happened at the Welcome Feast, it was the girls." He tried to explain. He'd had a whole speach planned out to talk to her but it was falling apart as he spoke.

Roxie shook her head, a bit of glitter floating of from her hair. "I know, there's been quite a bit of 'I know what's best for Roxie' going around." She frowned thinking back to her last conversation with Aurora. "I'm not mad with you Albus." She whispered again.

Albus grinned, brushing his unruly black hair from his face with his free hand. "Good, you had me worried. Maybe we could hang out sometime, to study of course." He added in a rush. Roxie smiled.

"Sounds like fun, studying I mean." She blushed. The two stood there for a minute before Roxie spoke up again. "Albus, you've still got hold of my arm." She stifled a giggle as the Potter boy quickly dropped her hand as if he'd been burned.

"Right," He said, "G'night Roxie." He waited in the passage for a minute hoping no one could hear how loud his heart was beating.

Roxie skipped down the hall back to the Ravenclaw room, giddily she'd put back her spectraspecs on and sang the Hogwarts anthem out loud until she reached the Ravenclaw tower, by the end of the song she was belting it out so loudly that she didn't even notice the clicking of shoes behind her, or the jumping form of a shadow flick across the walls. By the time she'd ended the song the form had already snuck past her and was quickly making it's way to the upper levels of the school.

The shadow had belonged to Dominique. Breaking curfew wasn't exactly something that worried the Slytherin girl, but she didn't want to be caught, not when she had business to attend to. She moved quickly and as quietly as air. Pie slithered after her, careful not to tangle at her feet. With a quick check behind her shoulder, the dark haired girl slipped down a dead end corridor and into the dark. There were no torched lighting this hall and she didn't dare pull out her wand.

Kneeling down on the cold stone she felt her way along the wall until she felt the odd sensation of magic run through her palm. Sure enough the brick turned away into a small door, just as it had the other day. Rubbing her hands together she grabbed hold of the handle and pulled back as hard as she could. With a low moan the door started to peel open revealing the same darkness as out in the hall. She gave another hard tug and the door opened enough for a body to crawl through.

Hands and knees she stooped to enter the mysterious passage. She poked her head in and screamed as a family of bats flew at her face. Pie snatched them out of the air, catching them with his venom lined fangs. Dominque gasped pulling her snakes scale covered body to her in a fleeting hug. She pulled back to get out of the doorway when a light shone from down the corridor.

"Who's there?" A raspy voice called out. Dominque froze. "I know you're there, I can hear you breathing." It was the Caretaker. The bloody man would wring her neck if he caught her, she'd already spilt her potion supplies in the hall so she was not in this guys good books.

Quickly she crawled the rest of the way throught the little door, Pie close on her heels. Shifting around she tugged the door shut with all her strength, the wall flattened back into brick as just as the foot steps arrived at the end of the hall.

Standing up in the dark she felt along the walls. There was enough room for only two very thin people to stand beside eachother comfortably. She was in a hall that had two directions. Left or right. She hesitantly started walking left down the hall, her curiosity getting the best of her. She rounded the corner only to come to three more pass options. With a gasp she realized that she wasn't in a hallway, she was in a maze.

"Are you lost?" Dominque spun around, the voice had come from behind her. She squinted into the dark but couldn't make out a form. She assumed the voice was a girls. The girl laughed lightly, "You must have just been released. Don't worry, you'll get used to it soon enough. I'm Katarina, by the way."

Dominque blinked. "What? Released?"

**Okay there it is, a long one to make up for the lack of update. (But remember I'm a slow writer!) Hmmm... What is Beth so upset about? Where is Dominque? And Katarina makes another appearance! Hope you all liked (Enough to review?) :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay guys, I'm horribly sorry for such a long wait, but I totally drifted away from writing this. Anyways, even more sorry for such a lame chapter aswell, it's short and barely covers anyone beside Dominque. Basically it's a filler... I feel horrid to be honest, but better to get it out of the way now :)**

Dominique took a nervous step away from the voice, 'what did she mean by released?' she narrowed her eye's, trying to see into the darkness. She pulled out her wand to create light and was puzzled when nothing happened.

"Here, just follow me. I'll take you to the others, you'll love it here." The girls voice spoke up again, "Well, come on then." The soft yet cold voice called from farther even away. Dominique hadn't heard any foot steps, so she tried her best to follow the voice, deciding that being with the new stranger was better than sitting alone in the maze like corridor.

She felt her way along the walls, trying her best to guess the direction of travel the girl was taking. If need came for escape then she didn't want to end up more lost than she already felt.

The girl chattered away. She told tales of adventure that Dominique couldn't help but be suspicious of, and talked about the castle and all the myths and mysteries it contained. The voice had gotten so loud that it seemed Dominique was directly behind her. Hesitantly, she stuck a hand out into the dark, trying to find the girl so she wouldn't run over her ankles. But she was surprised when her hand passed through air instead of hitting a solid person.

The voice abruptly stopped, leaving Dominique in silence. She took several short steps forward and as her left foot hit the ground, a sharp chill ran through her body. She shivered, her stomach panged and twisted in a sickening plunge. She quickly lept back, rubbing her arms to warm them up.

"You're not supposed to be here." The girl's voice returned, yet it was cold and laced with fear.

"But a minute ago you said-"

"Ya, but I thought you were dead!" The voice screeched.

Dead. Dominque drew in a shallow breath at the thought. She pinched her arm and moved her hand over her heart, waiting for the tell-tale sign of a heart beat. She melted to the floor in relief as the steady thump nuzzled against her skin. "Nope," She whispered mainly to herself, "I'm not dead."

"Oh no no no, you _have _to be dead." The girl pleaded. "You have to be."

Dominique quirked her head and narrowed her eye's once again into the darkeness. Slowly, she moved her arm down towards the floor, the familiar clamy feel of scales grazed across her hand. She bent lower, enough so that Pie could pull himself up onto the pale skinned Slytherin. She moved the great snake over so her was draped over her shoulders and cradled on her chest, putting the demonic force between herself and whoever this girl was.

"It's just you and me." She muttered quietly to the snake, her eye's darting through the shadows trying to find the form of the girl who blatantly stated she wanted her dead.

"What am I going to do? If the others know you're here... Oh..." Katarina moaned. "How'd you even get in here?" She asked in desperate confusion.

Dominique shrugged. "Through the door." She said coldy.

"There are no doors." Katarina groaned again, her voice was aggrivated and came out hoarse.

Dominique blinked. This girl was either A: Stupid, or B: A nutcase. "Well, how'd you get in then?" Dominque questioned, still holding onto the heavy snake for protection.

"Because I _am _dead! Just like you're _supposed_ to be! Only ghost are supposed to be here, that's how it works, it's how it always worked!" Dominque took a quick step back, trying to step as lightly as possible. "What am I going to do!" Katarina moaned again, a hazing glow started to emit from her and Dominque could make out the image of a girl.

Dominque gave the faint shape the one over. She was short and frail, like a tree sapling that just went through a storm. Her hair was long, thick, and slightly matted. It was dark, but in the poor lighting Dominque couldn't be sure on the exact colour. But it was her eye's that sent another chill through the petite Slytherin's spine. Katarina's eye's were wide and circular, they gave her a permanent surprised expression, and they looked dark and glossed over, like two plastic buttons off a jumper.

With another double take, Dominque confirmed that this girl was in fact dead.

Katarina, who had been muttering to herself, suddenly looked up at the snake in Dominique's arms. Her dark eye's became black and she stepped back, baring her teeth as if to hiss. "Get out!" She screamed, a long scar across her cheek grew dark and shiny, as if coated in blood.

Dominique tilted her head to the side, confused with the sudden flip in personality. Dominique took a step closer to Katarina, holding Pie out towards her. Her face twisted into a small smile when the girl stumbled back again.

"I SAID GET OUT!" Katarina screeched, the cut on her face now dripping with black blood, the thin line dripping down her front. The ghost took a quick leap towards Dominque, though there was no true passion in her small attack. Her translucent feet lifting off the ground slightly. The ghost was slowly transforming into a gruesome scene, her dusty robes ripped and soaked with blood, her hands shaking, a look of crazed fear mirrored in her eye's. Suddenly her shoulders dropped and she looked up at Dominque, all anger vanishing into a pained expression. "Please don't. Please.." She looked afraid. She cringed away, pulling her head into her hands. Her eye's were now glued on the snake. .

Dominque, horribly confused, dropped Pie to the ground and took off in a sprint around the corner, her brain rattling hard in her skull trying to work out what had just happened. She could hear the tormented screams of the ghost filling the corridor. Banging on the walls the dark haired third year tried to find the door. She was yelling now herself, hitting the wall with her hands. She heard a thick grating farther down the hall and ran towards it in blind hope.

Throwing herself throught the tiny door and quickly pulling Pie along with her, Dominque took up a full on sprint to the Slytherin common room without a thought about being caught after cerfew.

Huffing for breathe, Dominique smoothed out her hair and gathered Pie up into her arms. Sliding into the her dorm room, she gave a dark glare to one of the girls who had woken up before sliding into bed herself, not even bothering to change her clothes.

**There it is, the next chapter will be longer and have everyone in it! I promise! Soo any confusion or questions, or some helpful critique, don't be afraid to review :3 Next chappie we get to see what was with Katarina's sudden change in sanity too! Hopefully everything will start to roll together :D**


End file.
